Tuesday, December 6, 2011

LRDG Half Patrol Box

REVIEW

With the revamped raiding rules in Burning Empires, I couldn't wait to expand my LRDG forces! Currently I only have the old "Sting of the Scorpion" box which comes in to just around 300ish points in the revised lists. Adding another half patrol and some interdiction raids brings me up to a playable force without having to rely on too much support.

The box comes with 5 standard chev trucks and 1 heavy weapon truck which can either have a 37mm gun or the Breda AA gun. In a pinch, it can also work as a regular truck as enough extras are included if you don't want to use the heavy option. Additionally, enough extras are included to cover all of the upgrade options- Boys AT Rifles, extra MGs, Twin MGs, and .50 cals.

The sculpts for the 5 standard chev trucks are identical to the originals. That is a slight let down since I already have so many of them, but they look so great festooned in extra gear that it doesn't bother me too badly. Plus, the original sculpts are so good that there's no reason to fix what ain't broke. Despite being old sculpts, the casts were fine- clean and with zero major issues. The heavy weapon truck is slightly altered to allow for the modification of its payload. It allows you to add the 37mm or the breda. It's also slightly longer than it's predecessor.

The crew sculpts are the same as the old version with the exception of a new .50 cal gunner. No Lewis gunners were included in this box, though I discovered that was an accidental occurrence- e-mailing BF customer service will get your new Lewis gunners in no time, and I've never had anything but great experiences with them. Either way, this didn't affect me since I had leftovers in my bits box.

One of the new .50 cal gunners included in the box

Finally, the box does not include the dismounted crewmen. This is less of an issue with the revamped rules, but it would still have been nice to not have to get those guys separately. Still, the new rules make never needing to dismount a real possibility so a handful of stands to represent the few times you dismount should be enough. Previously you really needed one per truck as they were transport teams.

All in all I really like this box. Good price for 6 great minis with every upgrade you can buy. 9 Breda MGs out of 10.

FROM WIKIPEDIA

The Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) was a reconnaissance and raiding unit of the British Army during the Second World War. The commander of the German Afrika Corps, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, admitted that the LRDG "caused us more damage than any other British unit of equal strength".

On the left: The New Heavy truck (with an option for a 37mm not shown). On the right- the original with just the breda 20mm.

The LRDG was formed specifically to carry out deep penetration, covert reconnaissance patrols and intelligence missions from behind Italian lines, although they sometimes engaged in combat operations. Because the LRDG were experts in desert navigation they were sometimes assigned to guide other units, including the Special Air Service and secret agents across the desert. During the Desert Campaign between December 1940 and April 1943, the vehicles of the LRDG operated constantly behind the Axis lines, missing a total of only 15 days during the entire period. Possibly their most notable offensive action was during Operation Caravan, an attack on the town of Barce and its associated airfield, on the night of 13 September 1942. However, their most vital role was the 'Road Watch', during which they clandestinely monitored traffic on the main road from Tripoli to Benghazi, transmitting the intelligence to the British Army Headquarters.